Lost Sheep

Have you ever misplaced or lost something that was very dear and valuable to you? Maybe it was your car keys, your cell phone, your wallet with money in it, your Social Security ID, a USB drive with sensitive information on it, or perhaps it may have even been your child who got lost in a store or at the theme park. Can you recall how desperate and relentless you were in your pursuit to find your lost possession?

Now imagine how God feels when it comes to humanity. The Bible describes us as God’s prized possession; the apple of his eye; worth more to him than many sparrows. We were all made in his image and likeness; called to be his sons and daughters, and we were created to be in eternal fellowship with him. How dear and precious and valuable we must be to God! However, according to the Scriptures, we as humanity are all LOST. And it’s not because God was careless enough to lose us, but rather it’s because we have all been enticed by the deceitful craftiness of sin and have thus been drawn away from God, much like a sheep that has strayed away from its shepherd.

Jesus shared a parable in Luke 15:4-7, “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, and when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”

God loves and values us so much that he is in relentless pursuit to find us and reconcile us back unto himself. God sent his son Christ Jesus into the world to destroy the work of sin, which has caused us to become lost in the first place. And as it is written: “When the Son of Man is lifted up, he shall draw all men unto himself.” When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, his sacrificial love for us opened our eyes and caused many of us to see that He is greater than the fleeting pleasures of sin in our lives. His death drew many of us back to God the Father. We were once lost in sin, but now through Christ, we are found.